Saturday, November 26, 2016

All Stars

There was definitely some Friday night excitement at Home Slyce Columbia as I entered around 8:30 last night. The place was full and humming with activity. I was lucky to find a seat near the band, thanks to a welcoming group of folks that had one extra chair.

I was there to see the debut of Dog Park All-Stars, a local duo comprised of Mickey Gomez and Aaron Barnett. After reading this promo, how could I not?

Our band debuts ONE WEEK FROM TONIGHT. Yes, I am in a band with Aaron Barnett. We both sing and play guitar. One of us can also rock a kazoo like you read about. We're called the Dog Park All-Stars, because All Dogs love us and often show up to band practice with various plush squeaky toys. Did I mention the part where this is our first official gig? We'll be trading sets with the amazingly talented Artistic Differences. Pizza has been medically proven to be an antidote to excessive turkey consumption. I read that on Facebook. Also? KAZOO SOLO.

It's true that I don't normally leave the house for anything that happens after eight pm, but this was different. Mickey is just one of those people who has known precisely when to show up in my life when it was really important. She's just gifted that way. And that made it easy to convince myself to show up on my own to support her new musical venture.

I have a feeling that a lot of other people feel the same way about Mickey, because she had quite the cheering section last night. Well-deserved, I might add, from a musical standpoint. The Dog Park All-Stars were a delight, and I can't wait to hear more from them. In fact, I would have been thrilled if everyone in the place had stopped talking so we could hear them better.

It wasn't that kind of a gig, however. It was a Friday night, come out and have a pizza and some beer and get out of the house and have some fun. It was looking a lot like vibrant night life in Columbia to me. I had a couple of Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale and enjoyed the experience of being in a hometown crowd supporting well-known friends.

Ever the homebody, I left after their first set, so I regret to report that I did not witness the kazoo solo.

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This blog contains personal reflections, comments, and hyperlinks. I write about what I care about. I am extremely careful to post only what I know to be the truth. I will sometimes make mistakes and I am usually pretty good about admitting and correcting them.

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About Me

Julia McCready Is an Early Childhood Educator specializing in Music and Movement in Howard County, Maryland. She has served on the Oakland Mills Village Board. She moved to Columbia in 1999 and is still trying to figure it all out.